The Anaheim Ducks Will Appear on NBC Sports Network Four Times in 2015-2016
Less national coverage, but less Pierre McGuire – I’m sort of torn!
NBC/NBC Sports will be broadcasting 105 NHL games in 2015-2016, which is good news for fans of the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Fans of the Anaheim Ducks who want to watch their team on national television, however, could be mildly disappointed, as the Ducks appear in a grand total of four games, all on NBC Sports – check them out:
Fri. Nov. 27 Chicago @ Anaheim 5 p.m.
Wed. Jan 20 Minnesota @ Anaheim 10:30 p.m.
Thurs. Feb. 4 Anaheim @ Los Angeles 10 p.m.
Sun. Feb. 28 Los Angeles @ Anaheim 9 p.m.
Considering that the Anaheim Ducks were a Game 7 loss away from playing for Lord Stanley’s Cup, it is a little disappointing to see that the Ducks only have four nationally-televised games this season, a fact that is only made worse by the fact that both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia will appear on either NBC or NBC Sports 18 times in 2015-2016. (The Blackhawks will appear 21 times, which is ridiculous, but as the reigning champs, you can kind of understand this decision.)
We all know the hockey world loves to watch Sidney Crosby and the Penguins, but what gives with the Flyers getting so much attention? Oh yeah – Comcast owns the Flyers, as well as NBC Universal, so it’s kind of surprising that NBC isn’t airing all 82 regular season Flyers games.
For those of you who want to argue about East Coast bias, consider this: the Buffalo Sabres, the team with the worst record in all of hockey last season, will appear on NBC/NBC Sports five times.
Low blow, right?
Of course, there is a silver lining in this cloud: less games on NBC Sports = less time exposed to Pierre McGuire. So maybe we should be thanking the executives at NBC?